Mizumi
Mizumi, Queen of Moraine (also known as the Queen of Cups), is a major character in Return to Labyrinth, and functions as its main antagonist. She is a powerful sorceress, and is bent on making Jareth subject to her will for his rejection of her years before. Events prior to the manga Many years prior to the events of the film, Mizumi met Jareth at a dance. Mizumi quickly became infatuated by him, mesmerized by his strength of will. They formed a relationship, however Jareth eventually tired of Mizumi even as her love for him continued to grow. They spent lifetimes together on multiple worlds, living multiple lives. However, when Jareth showed Mizumi the location of the future Goblin Kingdom she arrogantly demanded that he take her elsewhere, considering the goblins - who Jareth found amusing - beneath their notice. Jareth then demanded that Mizumi reveal her expectations of their relationship, but when it becomes clear she only wanted shallow pomp, splendour and royal authority, he told her he would only remain with her if she could find his heart, which he has hidden in the newly-created Labyrinth. Mizumi failed the task, and lost him. In the wake of Jareth's abandonmemnt of her Mizumi used her powers to make ablations of Regret and Hope from her grief, producing her 'daughters' Moulin and Drumlin. Doing so spared Mizumi the painful feelings that had overwhelmed her since Jareth's departure, and by establishing the ablations as her 'children' she was able to ward off the loneliness caused by his absence. Shortly after Sarah's defeat of him, Jareth travelled to Moraine to ask Mizumi to make an ablation from Sarah's dreams. Mizumi granted his request and created Moppet, but only did so on the condition that Jareth will hand over his Kingdom and its King if he could not make Moppet love him after thirteen years. Mizumi was convinced she would win the wager, as she considered Jareth too self-absorbed to ever win the love of another. Role in the manga Mizumi only appears briefly in the first volume of the manga, and is first seen spying on Toby in the real world. Later, she sends a large, vicious water demon to attack Toby upon his arrival in the Labyrinth, concerned by Jareth's interest in him. At the grand ball held at the end of the first volume Mizumi approaches Jareth and refers to him as her 'fiancee,' confident that he will shortly be under her control. Mizumi laughs when Jareth announces that Toby is to be the next Goblin King, realizing that he has found a way to escape his debt to her. In the second volume Mizumi begins to mentor Toby in the use of magic with the intention being that he reveals the location of the Pathmaker to her, as she believes The Pathmaker to be the living heart of the Labyrinth that drives the paths of the kingdom. When she is mentoring Toby, Mizumi gives him some insight into her past with Jareth, revealing the bitterness she feels towards him for scorning her love. Following Toby's coronation, Mizumi claims him and the Goblin Kingdom as both were Jareth's debt to her for the creation of Moppet. Mizumi becomes steadily more controlling of Toby and tries to earn his loyalty, tempting him with visions of how they could rule the Labyrinth together if he agrees to co-operate with her. When Mizumi realizes Jareth has entered the human world and is trying to recover the now adult Sarah, she sends her henchman Esker to stop Jareth bringing Sarah back to the Labyrinth. However, the Labyrinth is wildly out of control and proves impassable. It then occurs to Mizumi that killing Moppet would kill Sarah, since killing an ablation results in the death of its source. However, Moppet is protected from Mizumi by Toby. Moppet eventually recovers Sarah's memories of her time in the Labyrinth,and starts off on a quest with Moulin, Hoggle, Ludo, Hana and Stank to find the real Sarah. Mizumi uses her link to Moulin to track them down, and as Moulin inadvertently suceeds in making Mizumi experience regret once again Mizumi is able to stab Moulin, the blood sacrifice opening the gateway that leads to Jareth and Sarah's new world. Unable to cross through to their world herself, Mizumi assigns Moppet the task and returns to the Goblin City. With the emotions of hope and regret restored to her, Mizumi ends her occupation of the Goblin Kingdom and frees Toby, leaving him to deal with the chaos the Labyrinth has descended into by himself. At the end of the manga she is still determined to have Jareth's love, reasoning that Sarah is only mortal and will eventually die. Appearance Mizumi is tall and very beautiful, with blue-tinged, pale skin and an elegant frame. She has long glimmering silver hair and blue eyes, and there is a mark shaped like a teardrop beneath her lips which she sometimes wears blue lipstick on. Her nails are a pale blue as well. Mizumi wears elaborate, tailored robes, which often feature high collars and armoured shoulder pads. On occasion, she will wear furs draped around her shoulders. She always wears a crown (excluding one appearance in flashback), the style of it altering between her appearances. Mizumi's appearance and clothes reflect the watery nature of her Kingdom Moraine, the castle of which is built above a vast expanse of water. Abilities Mizumi is tremendously powerful, to the extent that Jareth has needed to go to her and request her help on occasions in the past. She can manipulate water at will, forming large, vicious demons from water that she uses to do her bidding. Mizumi sends one such demon to attack Toby upon his return to the Labyrinth, and summons many of them to round up the goblins after she assumes control of The Goblin City. One of Mizumi's most unique abilities is her power to create ablations, beings that are created from a particular aspect of a person or creature. Mizumi creates two ablations from her feelings of hope and regret to be her daughters, and creates another ablation for Jareth in the wake of Sarah's defeat of him. Relationships Jareth Mizumi is deeply infatuated by Jareth, to the extent that she continues to want his love long after he rejects her. In flashbacks, Mizumi is shown to be constantly adoring while Jareth appears remote and disinterested after the early period of their relationship has passed. Jareth considers Mizumi to be shallow, and ignores her pleas to allow her the oppurtunity to earn his love. Mizumi is attracted to Jareth's power and strength of will, and when Spittledrum explains that Jareth wished to possess Sarah and break her will Mizumi considers the thought romantic. At the end of the final volume Mizumi resigns herself to waiting for a new oppurtunity to win his affections. Sarah/Moppet Jareth's obsession with Sarah makes Mizumi extremely jealous, and she is incapable of seeing what it is about Sarah that so attracts him. She considers the fact Jareth lost his heart to Sarah to be unfathomable, and sneers at Jareth when he approaches her and asks her to make an ablation from Sarah's dreams. Mizumi creates Moppet for Jareth as she believes he is destined to lose their wager, and that she will ultimately win both Jareth and his Kingdom. When Jareth comes to collect Moppet, Mizumi tells him that Moppet will never love him as he is too in love with himself. Mizumi resents Moppet, as she is a reminder of Jareth's pre-occupation with Sarah. When they come face-to-face after Toby is pronounced Goblin King, Mizumi cruelly attempts to extract Moppet's mask from her face to reveal her identity and is only stopped by Toby. Mizumi is shown to wish to get rid of Sarah and Moppet, and tasks her henchman Esker with the task of killing Moppet (which would, in turn, kill Sarah) when she discovers that Jareth has made contact with Sarah in the human world. Toby Mizumi's interest in Toby comes about due to his link to Jareth. When Toby is lured into the Labyrinth to reclaim his homework, Mizumi sends one of her water demons to drive him out, fearing that Jareth has plans for Toby that may interfere with her own. After Toby is announced as the new Goblin King, Mizumi offers Toby her help in becoming accustomed to his new role. Secretly Mizumi starts to hope that Toby will be able to lead her to The Pathmaker, the being she believes controls the Labyrinth and will allow her access to Jareth's heart. To get closer to Toby, Mizumi starts to tutor him in magic, hopeful that doing so will increase his chances of locating The Pathmaker. When explaining the nature of magic to Toby, Mizumi reveals that she and Jareth were once lovers who honed their powers together. As the new Goblin King, Toby has access to Jareth's powers and Mizumi explains that she wishes to teach Toby how best to wield those powers. After Moppet is revealed to be Sarah's doppelgänger, Mizumi explains the circumstances behind her creation to Moppet and Toby. Just after Toby's coronation, Mizumi is able to claim Toby as her prize for Jareth's failure to win the bargain they waged thirteen years before. Mizumi informs Toby that she wishes him to find The Pathmaker, and becomes frustrated with him when he tells her he doesn't know how to find it. In the fourth volume, Mizumi's attitude towards Toby appears to change and she suggests that they should combine their powers and become more powerful than Jareth ever was. When Toby sees Moppet in danger through a telescope in the castle, Mizumi bends over and kisses him on the lips, investing him with some of her powers in the process and allowing him to save his friends. When they next encounter each other, Toby is shown to have retained Mizumi's powers and his proud, somewhat aggressive manner makes Mizumi find him attractive. Toby tells Mizumi she can have his love if she wishes to take it, and reveals uncharacteristic vision by outlining his plan to tear the Labyrinth to the ground and rebuild it from scratch. However, Mizumi soon realizes that she does not want a new lover, and will only settle for Jareth himself. With her priorities changed, Mizumi releases Toby from the contract he was unwittingly made subject to by Jareth and leaves him to find a way to save the collapsing Labyrinth on his own. Moulin & Drumlin Mizumi raised the ablations Moulin and Drumlin as if they were her children, and created them so they grew in the manner of real children. Mizumi had Moulin and Drumlin refer to her as 'mum' or 'mummy', and allowed them to develop unique personalities and traits. She takes her daughters with her to the ball Jareth holds just prior to his abdication, urging them to mingle and have fun. While she comes across as a maternal figure in this sense, Mizumi has proven herself to be capable of great callousness, her attitude occasionally indicating that she only sees them as aspects of herself that need to be protected solely to ensure her own well-being. After Drumlin goes against her wishes by trying to kill Moppet prematurely, Mizumi re-absorbs her despite Drumlin's pleas for her life. Later in the series, Drumlin appears to Mizumi as a ghost and shares a dialogue with her, offering her advice on how to deal with her situation. In the fourth volume of the series, Mizumi's other ablation Moulin betrays her and joins forces with Moppet to try and find Sarah. This act of defiance angers Mizumi, who nonetheless uses it to her advantage by using the link between her and Moulin to reach her. Mizumi prevents Moulin from killing the two of them by killing herself with a dagger, and Moulin tries to fight Mizumi by forcing her to experience regret once again. Moulin succeeds, but in doing so severs the link between the two of them, enabling Mizumi to kill her and use her blood sacrifice to pass through the door that leads to Jareth and Sarah. Mizumi is shown to regret having to kill Moulin, and appears genuinely saddened prior to stabbing her. Inspiration Her relationship with Jareth and end of series development closely mirrors that of the Witch of the Waste from the book Howl's Moving Castle, with a film adaptation by Hayao Miyazaki (Howl's Moving Castle). Similar qualities between Mizumi and the Witch of the Waste include the ability to wield magic, her romantic (and unrequited) love for the wizard she pursues (specifically a desire for his heart), a jealousy that a young human girl has caught his interest, and ultimately giving up their wrongdoings near the end of the plot.Category:Characters Category:Return to Labyrinth